DR. J. H. NEWMAN.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3886, 30 March 1877, Page 2

DR. J. H. NEWMAN.

(From the " World. ") • As Dr Newmans days grow fewer, they ■ - grow longer. He has ever been an early riser, and now from five in the: morning until ail unknown hour at night he is busily engaged- in redeeming the . time* His first/two hours:are given. to, devotion* „ ■<■ Shortly after seven he says his mass — usually for some years past in the ,chapei. of the IJona Mors — in which the souls ' of j; t \ the founders and Catholic benefactors ot' '"" ; his' old colleges at Oxford are always, re* membered. At about eight o'clock hie ap» pears, in .the refectory., where hebreakfasts inlsiience, after the custom' of religious houses, attacking meanwhile 'the ' pile pi ooirespoMdence which awaits him oA t|)e table. Then his owii room receives ; him, and until half-past two or three in. tie afternoon correspondence/ gtud-y, ' anct the duties involved in the governmeliiS'of the house and school engross him. : Au hotfi? or two in the' afternoon is given to exercise* for he is still a ; great' pedestrian 1 ; the community dinner is at six q'cipck^andpn days when his turn- cdmes. ' rouiict^' the Father 5 girds :qn,the apron of service,' and waits upohhis brethren, not himself sitting down liiitil . they are' seized. ," AJl ' eat 'in 4 silence, only Woken by the' voice" df the — ' lector, who from "the pulpit in the corner" re&ds first a . chapter from, the Vulgate* then a chapter of the life of a ■[ saint,' and lastly,: a" portion from some modern work of general interests "Wliefi. dinner is over* questions in some department of theological science are proposed by iijiVt whpsfl i turn it is. Each in succession" gives his opinion," ending with the usual formula, 'But I speak under correction.' Then w the proposer sums, up, and the'' fathers ' adjourn to a neighbouring parlour, where coffee is served. and 'the .petit-lip conversation bursts f orth^-the -play of wit and fancy, the wealth of anecdote and reminiscence, the tender glances at- the past, the keen remarks on the public eyefitsj of the day, the shrewd practical observatipnir on their own domestic and personal concerns. In all winch the Superior fully , bears his part, as much at home here, as among his graver pursuits, his clear musical voice interposing frequently to add the contribution of his mitts sapientia to the genial hour, which recalls to one the description given of the first Oratory over which St. Philip Neri himself presided, 'the school of Christian' mirth. ' Perhaps the'two things which most strike the visitor among these ecclesiastics are their thoroughly English tone, and- the liberality, ; ' in the ' Highest ? sense, of their views. Dr. Newman onee 5 .' remarked,- ' When I became a- Catholic/ 1 did not cease to be an Englishman' and it may be truly said of him, as Ampere said? ' : of Ozanam, . that 'he has a largeness of conception which teaches him ip recognise sympathies outside the camp in which he is fighting ;' or in the words -'of 'anqther'' • regarding that great man, ' He is passionately enamoured of the legitimate conquests of .the modern, mind ;'■ hfe loves liberty, and he has served it ;-• he is- intolerant of intolerance and iust towards

error.' -'."•". So passes Dr. Newmans life in his Birmingham • home,, its tranquil j course - v broken at rare intervals by visits to old - and cherished friends, chiefly of his Oxford days, or by retirement to a: tiny country house of the Oratorians, a fewmiles distant, at Rednal, round .'which", is the little churchyard where they 'are buried. It is a pretty little spot, wfell away from the smoke and din of Birmingham ; and here Dr. Newman will sometimes spend days in absolute seclusion, whether seeking rest from prolonged labour or unbroken time for more assiduous toil. It was here that the most closely reasoned of his works, the 1 Crram-^ mar of Assent, was composed ; but theT^ books with which the walls are lined bear ~^"' evidence that lighter literature is not disregarded. ' Miss Austen, Thackeray, Anthony Trollope, Sir Walter, Scott, <Mrs., 4 Gaskell, are favourite authors with the' great theologian. , .Of , modern English, poets, Wordsworth, Southey, and Crabbe are highly yalued by him, and ,are constantly read. . Music, again, has . ever been a solace to', him, and has ' been" lSvingly cultivated. Most educated men know the • passage in the Oxford University Sermons in whicli C; the mysterious stirrings of' heartj. and. keen ; emotions ,, and strange \ yearnings after we .know, not what, and awful inipressions we know not whence,' produced in us by the great master?, of, ; musical sound, are described in words of majestic eloquence which it would .be hard parallel. As might have been expected, the .man who cQuld write, thus of music, isj 7 himself :nip mean musician. ;A ; story is' told — we know not with what truthr—thaton one occasion a Protestant Boanerges visiting Birmingham, sent a pompous in- ti vitation to the great convert to dispute publicly with »him in the town^hauysto which Dr. Newman replied that he had small skill in controversy, and must decline to enter the lists with so redoubtable 'a . champion ; but that his friends credited " him with some power of playing the - ! violin, and that he would be' happy' to meet his challenger at a trial of strength"; on that instrument. .■•. - k